Slow geek on wheels: July 2009 edition

[rolker]

Here's a summary of the data I collected during 4 track days at Loudon in an 8 day span.

July 15 - BostonMoto



This is my second day on the track with the new RS125. The first couple of sessions, I started slow but got quicker at the end. Later in the day, I got tired and the result was slower laps. It's amazing how much more mental and physical effort it takes to ride an RS125.

One thing that is clear is that I have a lot of work to do before I am ready to race. At my fastest, I'm still at least 10 seconds slower than novice 125 racers.

July 20 - Tony's Track Days



Started the day on the RS125 and gradually improved my times in the morning. Didn't beat my faster July 15th laps. When I started getting tired at the end of the day I switched to the EX250. I didn't want to wear myself out too much with two more days at the track to follow.

Jumping from the RS125 to the EX250 is not that easy. 2 stroke vs 4 stroke, race suspension vs beginner street suspension, different power profile, different shift points all make the switch challenging.

Since the 125 has become my primary bike, I hadn't ridden the 250 since March at VIR. Consequently, I ran slow, yet consistent laps as can be seen during the last 3 sessions. As I'm building up shift points and reference marks for the 125, all the info for the 250 got purged from my small brain...

July 21 - Tony's Track Days



Rain! I didn't bring my rains for the 125, so I ran the 250 all day. I've had a couple of tip overs in the rain last year, so I took it very easy for the first session. The line dried up for the next two sessions, so I ran a bit quicker. Rain drops where still falling on my visor, so that slowed me down a bit.

After the dry sessions, the rain increased enough to soak the track again. I slowed down quite a bit at first, but used the rest of the rainy afternoon to build up my confidence in the wet.

July 22 - BostonMoto



Early morning, things were still wet so I did the first session on the EX250. The track was dry, so I was able to improve quite a bit by the end of that first session. I spent the rest of the day on the RS125. As the day goes on, my average times seem to improve until the last session where I start slowing down a bit.

[rolker]

Here's what happens when I get bogged down in T3:



During the second to last lap, I got slowed down quite a bit by traffic in T3 (at about the 35 second mark). At that point, I'm in 1st gear, so dropping out of the power band made the climb out of 4 quite painful. I must have caught up to the slow group coming out of the bowl (at about the 60 second mark), because I didn't come close to reaching my typical speed between 7 and 9.

[rolker]

Here's an example where I can see where I was faster during a lap:


The third lap, shown in red, was considerably quicker that the others. Here's why, according to the data. During this lap, I braked a bit later into one and I then carried more speed through 1/1A/2. As a result, I reached a higher speed between two and three and I followed by carrying a bit more speed through 3. I seem to have run the rest of the lap at speeds consistent with the previous laps, so all the gains where achieved at the beginning of the lap.

[Paul_E_D]

Nice, I wish I had data when I was racing. It might have yielded another second once I hit the wall (figuratively)

[noxin]

Rolker, which GPS unit are you using for that?

[rolker]

Rolker, which GPS unit are you using for that?

Hey Noxin, this is the unit I'm using to collect the data.

http://www.buygpsnow.com/i-Blue-747A...ta_Logger.aspx

I wrote the software to process the data myself.

[noxin]

Interesting

[rolker]

Nice, I wish I had data when I was racing. It might have yielded another second once I hit the wall (figuratively)

Yeah I wish you had data like that so I could take a peak at it and find out where I need to improve the most. Wait - I know the answer, I need to improve everywhere!

[DerekSBelanger]

Just ask someone else with a 125 if you can put the GPS on their bike for a session or two. That would be very interesting!

[Pittenger5]

That is waaaayyy cool.
You looked a lot more comfortable on that thing wednesday than you did the last track day I saw you at.

[rolker]

Just ask someone else with a 125 if you can put the GPS on their bike for a session or two. That would be very interesting!

There were a few other 2 strokes there but no other 125. I did get to put my spare gps on another EX250 that was faster than me. I'll leave it up to him if he wants to publish the results.

[rolker]

You looked a lot more comfortable on that thing wednesday than you did the last track day I saw you at.

Thanks man. I am feeling much better on it every track day I do. I now feel more comfortable riding the RS125 than the EX250. Oh, and I think I now have a better handle on the 125's fuel consumption!

[Pittenger5]

Oh, and I think I now have a better handle on the 125's fuel consumption!

That kinda sucks, I was hoping for an excuse to watch some more laps from the inside of 6. That was an AWESOME perspective. Hahah

[boloson]

hey roland when are u thinking about racing? let me know when u do. maybe we can take penguin together

[The Crashing Tomato]

Go Roland GO

[rolker]

That kinda sucks, I was hoping for an excuse to watch some more laps from the inside of 6. That was an AWESOME perspective. Hahah

That was awesome, but I'd rather be on the track during my session...

wait, I got it!

Next time I'm out there, I can run a session in the novice group and "run out of fuel" going into the bowl on the checkered lap. I'll take refuge behind that same barrier where you'll show up to check on me, console me or whatever else you control riders do. Of course, not wanting to delay the next session, we'll communicate to the corner worker that we'll stay put for the next session and bingo! We watch the fast guys fly around us!

[rolker]

hey roland when are u thinking about racing? let me know when u do. maybe we can take penguin together

That would be cool to take penguin with someone I've met already, but I don't have a specific target date for when I'm going to start racing. I don't want to race until I'm competitive in the novice 125GP class. Looking at the LRRS results, it seems like I need to drop my times to at least the 1:30's. That means I still need to shave off at least 10 seconds off my current fast laps and at the slow rate I'm learning and building confidence, that could take a while!

What do you have planned?

[rolker]

Go Roland GO

Matt, my fan base of 1!

[kbroderick]

There were a few other 2 strokes there but no other 125. I did get to put my spare gps on another EX250 that was faster than me. I'll leave it up to him if he wants to publish the results.

Y'know, "another EX250 that was faster than me" isn't particularly generic, given the multitude of EX250s at the track.

I'm more than willing to publish it, but given that I have a bunch of video to deal with, I'd also perfectly fine with you publishing it if you want to post it somewhere accessible before I get around to it.

[boloson]

That would be cool to take penguin with someone I've met already, but I don't have a specific target date for when I'm going to start racing. I don't want to race until I'm competitive in the novice 125GP class. Looking at the LRRS results, it seems like I need to drop my times to at least the 1:30's. That means I still need to shave off at least 10 seconds off my current fast laps and at the slow rate I'm learning and building confidence, that could take a while!

What do you have planned?

no plans here. have been contemplating it for awhile but wouldn't be a good idea for my job in case i got seriously hurt. plus the $$ could be used towards something more "useful" as the wife puts it. with the amount of trackdays u do u should shave that 10 secs off in no time. either way let me know if u decide to do it

[The Crashing Tomato]

didn't want to be a bandwagoneer

roland I'm thinking you need a rabbit to chase ... and when I say rabbit I mean Tomato.
you could help me with paying for TD's and I'll be the rabbit. I'll hook my camera onto the Hawk and video the chase

[DerekSBelanger]

Roland, how'd you get the SW/GPS to understand beginning/end of lap?

[rolker]

Roland, how'd you get the SW/GPS to understand beginning/end of lap?

Told the software where the start/finish line is located using google earth to find the coordinates.